While I’d obviously been hearing about n+1for a while, none of what I’d heard interested me enough to track down a copy until recently. And even when I bought the current issue, it was only to read a piece by Jace Clayton/DJ Rupture about the international DJ scene. That was quite good and interesting, and would have been enough for me. But I must say that pretty much the entire magazine has turned out to be an outstanding read.

There’s a series of Q&As at the beginning with an anonymous hedge fund manager that’s completely fascinating and illuminating regarding the current financial situation; Benjamin Kunkel has a good essay on a framework for thinking about internet expression that I’m still pondering; one of the editors wrote an well-thought-out article on food; and, in particular, there’s an essay about Iraq war films by A.S. Hamrah that I found outstanding. There are a number of reasons for this, but the main thing that struck me was just what a great and pleasurable piece of writing it was. It reminded me of the distinction between, say, what I do for a living, and the real thing. Dare I say I found it inspiring?

In any case, I’m motivated to say nice things on this site more often.

So I say: n+1 seems like a great publication. Check it out, if you haven’t already.

I’m not even going to try to explain how I came upon this, but have you ever wondered: Is there a blog about pince-nez* spectacles — one that “provides advice and debunks myths” regarding this style of eyewear?

This time around the imaginary brand is Genco Pura, “the finest Sicilian olive oil.” As you may know, this is a business formed by Mr. Vito Corleone — although it turned out that he had an number of, you know, other interests.

I already pointed to this in the linkroll at right earlier in the week, but let’s just pause to appreciate the existence of a blog about doughnuts. (Via bookofjoe.)

Of recent and not entirely frivolous interest on The Blognut: A Q&A with the cofounder of the outstanding Top Pot Doughnuts, addressing that Seattle-based business’s deal with Starbucks, which I hadn’t realized is apparently nationwide.

Some time ago now, Rick Prelinger sent me a book he’s put together, The Field Guide to Sponsored Films. (For quick refresher on Mr. Prelinger and his work, see this earlier post.) The book is intended for scholars, and available from the National Film Preservation Foundation. (Click here, then on “cooperative projects,” then on “The Field Guide To Sponsored Films” for more information, including how to request a copy or download one.)

Compiled by Rick Prelinger of the Internet Archive with the help of scores of scholars, collectors, and archivists, The Field Guide to Sponsored Films singles out 452 sponsored motion pictures notable for their historical, cultural, or artistic interest. The 152-page annotated filmography includes indexes, repository information, and links to works viewable online.

I spent a bit of time going through this — not reading every word, but browsing, and reading up on films with interesting titles — and when possible, checking out the actual films via the Internet Archive mentioned above.

In the days ahead I’ll post more about several of the films I watched — and I’m giving this limited-run series the title, “Murketing’s Sponsored-Film Virtual Festival.”

I’ll start later this afternoon.

Meanwhile, I just want to mention one of the films I read about and really wanted to see, but that apparently isn’t available online. Made in 1954,by production company Sarra Inc., it was titled, The Secret of Selling the Negro. (They mean selling to “the negro,” of course.) The Field Guide says: Read more

Well this pretty cool: Kate Bingaman-Burt, whose drawings of her own credit card statements I’ve written about in the past, is doing a letterpress print — with colors! — edition of 100 of one of those statements. Via Poketo.

Please put aside the issue of whether or not the above image actually resembles Martin Luther King, Jr. I knew that Lego made lots of minifigures — but were these manufactured and sold as MLK (and Ghandi, etc.)? I asked Dunechaser, whose real name is Andrew Becraft.

“The short answer is no,” he replied. “That said, aside from the occasional accessory created by a third-party vendor, I only use official parts manufactured by LEGO. It’s all about putting together the little plastic bricks in an interesting way — sort of like working in a medium with a limited palette, which is more challenging. Nearly all the LEGO creations you see on Flickr are original designs as well.”

Mr. Becraft adds: “There are certainly very rare LEGO minifigs, and since I’ve been collecting for more than 30 years, I have LEGO elements that are no longer available. LEGO occasionally produces very small runs of elements to test designs or new colors, and these can show up on the secondary market (eBay and a site called BrickLink). Naturally, elements that were never released in LEGO sets are very, very rare”

He also tells me he’s part of LEGO Ambassadors, which is described on the Lego.com site as “a community based program made up of adult LEGO hobbyists who share their product and building expertise with the world-wide LEGO community (kids and adults actively participating in a LEGO community) and the public (kids, parents, grandparents).” Details on that here. The upshot is that it’s a sort of brand-evangelism/co-promotion/people’s-marketing situation. So I suppose on some level, by posting this entry, I’m playing into the hands of LEGO’s murketing! Ah, well.

Okay, if you didn’t click above, you simply must see Gandhi. Here he is: